


Keep the Old

by blueteak



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Post-The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-16 14:52:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13638492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueteak/pseuds/blueteak
Summary: Poe and Rey talk about the future of the Resistance.





	Keep the Old

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kereia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kereia/gifts).



There had been the euphoria at first. She’d been one hell of pilot and then one hell of a Jedi. All of them had told her that. Finn with relief and joy, Leia, eyes wet with tears of loss and hope, and Poe, full of admiration, looking at her as though she were a legend children were told but never believed until she breathed before them. 

She’d been congratulated by just about every single member of the Resistance. 

And then, after the Falcon's lights had dimmed for the evening and most everyone had fallen into relieved and shocked sleep, it had sunken in. She'd been congratulated by just about Every. Single. Member. Of. The. Resistance. 

They were almost all that was left. And now Luke was gone, too.

She started shaking, trembling as though she were lifting those rocks all over again, feeling as though this time it wasn’t going to work. 

A warm weight dropped over her shoulders. She looked up to see Poe standing in front of her without his jacket on. 

“You won’t have any left if you keep giving them away,” she joked even as she pulled it on, shivering in relief as its heat warmed her bones and soothed away some of the tensions of the day.

Poe shrugged and smiled, though she couldn’t help but notice tension in the set of his shoulders. “I’m sure I have another one…somewhere,” he said, sitting down beside her. 

They sat in silence, each trying to imagine where “somewhere” could be after all the destruction of the past few days. The silence stretched.

“Somewhere,” Poe said at last, stretching his shoulders. “Black One may not be safely at my father’s any longer, but I’m sure he has some of my old clothes. And some more embarrassing items, like my toy lightsabers. I’m glad now that he kept them, though, because Luke actually fought me with one. Mom never knew when an epic battle would break out during one of his visits.”

Rey smiled through sudden tears, trying to get the image of a child Poe and a much younger Luke engaged in a saber battle to force the memory of her own very real battle with Luke, on Kylo’s behalf, no less, to the back of her mind. 

She wasn’t sure whether Luke would be proven right about Kylo in the end, but she knew he was right as of right now. But if she should see Kylo again, if he radiated more than pure vengeance and hurt, who could she turn to for advice? She refused to ask Leia; she wouldn’t hold out false hope to her for all the worlds. 

And then it came to her: the toy lightsabers. Two dark haired little boys, one older. Poe. The other boy younger, intent on demonstrating that he could win against the odds. Kylo. Ben.  


“Were there ever any saber battles with Ben?” she asked carefully.

Poe’s face, previously relaxed in fond reminiscence, became wondering, but not wary, she noted in relief. “Yes. How did you…”

“I saw inside his mind when he tried to interrogate me; while in there, I also caught some of the connection between you, when he interrogated you.” Rey reached over, putting a hand on Poe’s shoulder. He relaxed a little.

“I don’t know what he was so upset about. I always let him win,” Poe said.

“I’m sure,” Rey replied, grinning. She hesitated. “He and I…we had a connection. A Force one.”

So far, Poe wasn’t backing away and warning everyone on the Falcon, so she continued. “I was so sure I could reach him, and then he killed Snoke but wanted to start a new sort of order with me, I…”

“You didn’t,” Poe said, low and urgent. “You walked away and you saved us and now we’re going to save the galaxy.”

Rey gestured at the sleeping remnants of the Resistance. “Did I? Are we?”

Poe’s utterly certain “yes” made her reach forward and hug him. 

“And if I connect to him again? If I think I can save him, no matter how unlikely that sounds? You knew him, do you think I could?”

Poe detached himself from the hug, held her at arm's length and gave her a long, considering look. “I’m going to go with Leia’s ‘Hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it, you’ll never make it through the night’ on this one. Just…will you come talk to me before you make any decisions?”

“Yes,” Rey promised, pulling Poe’s jacket around her tighter. 

The sun finally rose just as she fell asleep.


End file.
